Mitsui Fudosan, Kumagai Gumi and Getworks plan to place GPU servers inside a former soil-conveyor tunnel in Kobe, Japan. The initial opening is targeted for late 2027. The project would reuse about three kilometres of underground space, with stable temperatures and groundwater included in its cooling plans. It is a development proposal rather than an operating computing facility.
Mitsui Fudosan, a Japanese property developer, plans a data centre in an unused tunnel in Kobe, Japan, with construction company Kumagai Gumi and computing-infrastructure provider Getworks. The city announced the planned reuse on October 6. Server containers are to occupy part of the tunnel that once carried a soil conveyor. The companies target an initial opening in late 2027.[1], [2]
The planned section extends for approximately 3 kilometres within the longer tunnel system. Much of it lies more than 40 metres below the surface. The companies say their investigations found temperatures of 15–20 °C throughout the year. They intend to use that environment and circulating groundwater in the cooling arrangement. GPU servers, using graphics processors for intensive computation, are planned for containerised units. Electricity and communications connections also require development.[1]
Soil transport ended in September 2005. Mitsui Fudosan and Kumagai Gumi now undertake development, while Getworks handles the GPU infrastructure and data centre operation. The longer-term plan envisages up to 20 MW of receiving electrical capacity. That is a proposed limit, not an operating facility’s measured consumption. The conversion still requires infrastructure work before the former transport space can serve external computing customers.[1]
